Hi Shell, I felt like I was reading my own post when I read yours. I am new too. Just started the calorie tracker today. I am 47 and weigh 230 lbs. I have not been successful at weight loss since I turned 30. My weight has gradually gone up over the years. My main reason for keeping track of calories is because I think it's the main reason I am unsuccessful. It's too easy to eat the wrong foods and not realize how much it adds up too. I am having difficulty sleeping because of snoring and sleep apnea which scares me because I know it's due to my weight. I have to lose the weight in order to sleep better at night. It will eventually affect my health more. My goal is to lose 30 pounds by June! I think we have both sent reasonable goals.
The only thing that this website doesn't offer is advice on how to stay on track. I'm not sure if keeping track of calories is enough. I'd like to find a website that will tell me if I've hit my calorie limit, etc. Not sure if this site will actually help me lose the weight. It's a good reality check though.
Best wishes.
Chunkeymonkeytoo

Hi Marilyn, Yes, the visual thing really works well for me. All those graphs keep me fully aware of what I have eaten and it take me out of my la la land where I eat and eat without end...! Thanks for the invite to the group, I will pop in there!

Hi ChunkyMonkeyToo, Thanks for relating, it helps to know there are other people who are at the same point, with the same struggles, and the same goals. Keep entering all of your food, I hope you will find this system as useful as I have for staying 'on track' and improving your food choices.

I have been exploring the nutritional content of different foods as I plan my meals (planning to me is crucial). Looking at nutrition is something that is new to me. I used to always just check calories and fat content; but am taking a different approach this time. I track everything. If I blow it on any particular day (which I already have) and go way overboard with something, I track it anyways, and keep moving forward to try for a more balanced day the next day. Looking at my stats is motivating and challenging to me.

I particularly like the breakdown of Carb/Fat/Protein..I am aiming for 40-30-30. I am learning that this breakdown is important to watch in addition to counting calories. This is new to me. I think one of my problems has been reaching for too many carbs. I was shocked my first few days how fast my carbs were adding up! Wow! A reality check moment for me..! I am actually enjoying learning about nutrition, getting alot of info from others who post on the forum.

Good thing is that once your weight goes down, I have heard that sleep apnea will very likely subside too. Good sleep is so important. It is a fact, this excess weight will indeed affect us more and more as we grow older. There is no doubt about that. I have put alot of thought into that and while it is painful to think about, it is something we have to face.

Hi girls, I just stumbled across this thread tonight and read the whole thing. This is the sort of thread I am looking for!! I hope you don't mind if I join.

Earlier in the thread some of you stated that you didn't want to aim for the super model body...and I just wanted to say GOOD!! I don't know if you are aware or not, but when the clothing industry first started getting more mainstream the models were very beautiful voluptuous women with gorgeous curves! Well the audiences were so taken with the models that the clothing was being overlooked, so it was decided to pick skinny unattractive models, so the clothing would be showcased rather than the beautiful bodies!! So how on earth did those horrible scrawny bodies become the body to strive for????

The average sized woman in the US (not sure about Canada but it can't be far off) is a size 14! Not a size 2! I don't think I have been a size 2 since I was 8 years old! LOL!! My skeleton is bigger than a size 2!

So it pleases me to see that none of you have unattainable goals!

In my case, I don't need to lose quite as much as you girls do, however I HAVE to lose it. Because I didn't take better care of my eating habits earlier in my life, I am now prediabetic and have high cholesterol. So for me it is imperative to get my weight down to at least 150, but probably closer to 140(ya right!!). I do still have time to correct these health problems before they do irreparable damage...but you don't want this to happen to you! I am 49, and it is scary as hell to realize you are a perfect candidate for a heart attack. I actually said to my doctor...but I am not that fat! She replied...no, you aren't, but you are one of those people who have to maintain a healthy weight. So I have gone past the point of "wanting" to lose weight and get healthier, I am now at "having" to lose weight in order to BE healthy.

My lifestyle and eating habits are an example of what not to do! And for me it was sugar! Sugar seriously raises your triglycerides (I did not know that! I thought it was fat intake!!), sugar has overtaxed my pancreas making me insulin resistant. Anyone who consumes a lot of sugar is running this risk.

Anyways, I just wanted to tell this part of my story, I don't want anyone thinking just because I need to lose less weight, that my struggle is any less difficult or important.
And I will put it out there, like Shell has...I am 167 now, started at 175 and my goal is to reach 150 by the end of April, or sooner!! MAYBE I will strive for the 140 after that!

Of course you are welcome to join in! I have been leaning on these boards alot, especially the past few days. So inspiring, and it sure does help to relate to others for inspiration and to learn.

The whole 'size 2' thing is something that is unattainable for me too due to my body structure. Growing up in the 80's there was nothing but skinny models, and it made me very self-conscience of myself at a very impressionable age. I really resent that, because looking back on pictures of myself from back then, I looked great!!!! Thank goodness the fashion industry has gotten away from this somewhat, and fuller-figure models and fashions are more accepted! (I still have issues when I see size 12 in a plus sized store though...sigh!)

Good for you for taking control of your health. I know that if I don't change my habits, that I will be heading down that exact same road. I am actually going for a physical tomorrow...so will see where I am at. I have not had any health problems so far. But with my bad eating habits and excess weight (and well, age; I am 41) eventually that will all catch up to me. I keep reminding myself of that, and it is my main motivator now.

I grew up with very poor eating habits, and have not done anything to educate myself on nutrition or to change those bad habits, until now. Formerly, my diets consisted of restricting my food during the week and eating alot of 'low cal', crappy processed food; and blowing it on the weekend by eating whatever I wanted to. No balance. While I did lose weight, I always gained it back and more.

Too much sugar is bad and can really cause havoc. Thanks for the reminder on that. I was eating way to much sugar too. A chocolate bar, or two, nearly everyday. And soda. And chips... No more.

And thanks for sharing your story. It has served as a serious wake-up call for me. I understand your urgency in wanting to lose weight, and your struggle is not any less important just because you have a lesser amount of weight to lose than some of us here. We all have our unique situations, but in the end, we all have the same goal and that is why we are here.

My mantra for the day: I will nourish my body with the good fuel that it needs to function properly; and not with the foods that causes it to malfunction.

Hi Shell, I did sleep better last night. I bought those snore strips. It didn't stop the apnea all together, but I did sleep more without waking as often. It helped a bit I think. Hubby said I still kept him up. The only thing to quiet the bear is to lose the weight I'm sure.
As far as the calorie count, I'm aiming for 1200 cal. a day. Went a bit over it yesterday, but I'm sure it's better than I am use to doing. I did have a more balanced ratio. I thought the fat would be off chart. It was a bit higher than the others, but I'm going to work at getting that lower. I'm use to eating really fatty foods I think. I never really thought much about it before. It's easy to do. It all taste so good.

I am Debi, 41 yrs old, 176 lbs. (size 12/14) and only 5'1". I have yo-yo'd my whole adult life - from 100 lbs to 191 (pregnant). I have 4 kids and a wonderful husband.

I not only want to lose 40-50 lbs but want to be healthy. I want to ride my horse with my daughter. I want to be able to run without getting winded. I want to look good not only for me, but for my husband. He still wears the same size jeans as the day I married him... 12 yrs ago!

I do not care what the scale says as much as my jeans fit. I was a size 7 and 143 lbs. Awesome shape and muscular! Then, I got an office job, quit riding everyday, eating whatever/whenever and late supper times.

I have already lost 5 lbs since Christmas. Yay, me! But I have a long way to go. I want to be able to wear my jeans and boots to the rodeo without a big shirt...

I am just looking for strength, motivation, guidance.... with my diet and exercises.

Hi ladies, and welcome to all the newcomers! I'm so glad we've developed such a good support group. Sorry I haven't been around for a few days. It was a busy weekend on top of stress stress stress the first part of this week. The highlight of the past four or five days was defintely Sunday, I went to the archery range for a couple of hours and then the birthday party for my best friend's son. I definitely blew my good eating habits out of the water with the party, and Monday I succumbed to stress and PMS and just took a flying leap right off the wagon. I can't say I feel, because I just didn't care last night. I've got to learn to get the emotional eating under control. The good news is, we really don't have anywhere but up to go from over here, so I should be back to my normal annoying posts soon enough. I just got finished planning out tomorrow, so I'm right back on track with owning my eating. Sorry to unload on you guys, I hope you are all having a successful week and I wish everyone a wonderful tomorrow!

Hi Diane, Good to see you back! Sorry about the setback sounds like it was a combo of things happening all at once. Sounds like you are back on track though! I don't know what it is about weekends, but I really struggle the most on the weekends. I slipped up a bit this weekend (I am also in PMS mode) and had some fast food; but I tracked it all, every gory little detail, and it was an eye opener, that is for sure. No need to apologize, we are here to support eachother!

Hi ChunkyMonkeyToo, Glad you got a good sleep, it is so important to keep your energy up physically and emotionally too. Adding some cottage cheese to my day really helped me to boost my protein up which I was pleased about! Today is the first day that I managed to get my protein up to where I wanted it (30%). Yay!

Hi there Debi, Welcome, and wow, can I ever relate. I have horses but have not ridden for a couple years now. I used to ride everyday and it was a big part of what I looked forward to everyday. I could cry just thinking about it...I have felt such huge guilt about this, but on the plus side I still do enjoy my horses, spending time with them, caring for them. I am not beating myself up about not riding quite as much anymore. Although I am sure the horses are all enjoying the time off being 'pasture ornaments'! lol Not only do I feel simply too heavy right now (I rode up until I reached around 220lb), I feel overall not fit/strong enough to ride. And when I don't feel fit, it is simply not comfortable or safe. I do want to ride again though. Sooooooooo, one of my goals is to get back in the saddle again. At 200lb I will try again. I sure do hope I can get back into riding this summer. I miss it.

I hear you about big shirts with jeans Debi...I am so incredibly sick of them...!!!!! And jeans are not all that comfy for me right now which is ultra annoying. I could scream...! Moving forward, we'll be able to turf those big shirts soon.

Sounds like alot of us have a great husbands, families, and strong support systems. I think we are really fortunate! My husband has loved me no matter what my weight has been over the years. I do want to look good again for him and for myself.

Good morning! I kind of did a vegetarian day yesterday to really boost my fiber intake and help flush out all the ickies from Sunday and Monday and between that and a really good night's sleep I feel so much better today!

I wanted to check in with a measurements report, I did it today instead of yesterday, but it still got done. I'm happy to say some things went down a smidge and some stayed the same, but nothing has gone back up. I have to really make sure I do my exercise this week so I don't have too many negative effects from my lapse. I'm just glad I didn't say f it and throw the whole project down the drain, which has been my past track record.

Isn't is amazing how much strength we've given each other? A stupid fad program isn't what we needed, it was a good solid community!

Ok, well, I'm off to go find a new temp agency, since my current one doesn't think its necessary to return phone calls or emails. Have a good day!!

Glad you are feeling better Diane. After falling off the wagon, it doesn't take long to feel good again once you get back on, does it!? I have given up myself, numerous times...many many many many times...it is easy to give up and just fall back into old habits. But I am just not going there again. This is a lifestyle change and I am committing to doing this, no matter what. I deserve it. We all deserve to be healthy and feel good about ourselves!

It really is amazing how much strength can be found on these forums, I have been blown away by the support and inspiration!

Yes, the fad programs just do not work. I have finally realized this and come to my senses. Just a couple months ago I nearly got roped into 'U Weight Loss', I was feeling low and made an appointment there. I was dangerously close to dropping $2000.00 upfront to join. I felt like a fool, they really played on my emotions, and were very clever with their sales pitch.